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How the media created the obsession with imaginary racism


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2021 Mar 28, 2:16pm   1,068 views  34 comments

by Patrick   ➕follow (55)   💰tip   ignore  

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/media-great-racial-awakening

Countless articles have been published in recent weeks, often under the guise of straight news reporting, in which journalists take for granted the legitimacy of novel theories about race and identity. Such articles illustrate a prevailing new political morality on questions of race and justice that has taken power at the Times and Post—a worldview sometimes abbreviated as “wokeness” that combines the sensibilities of highly educated and hyperliberal white professionals with elements of Black nationalism and academic critical race theory. But the media’s embrace of “wokeness” did not begin in response to the death of George Floyd. This racial ideology first began to take hold at leading liberal media institutions years before the arrival of Donald Trump and, in fact, heavily influenced the journalistic response to the protest movements of recent years and their critique of American society. ...

Consider the graph below, which displays the usage of the terms “racist(s)” and “racism” as a percentage of all words in four of the nation’s largest newspapers from (depending on the publication) 1970 through 2019.



... in light of the immense absolute improvements in the quality of life of the average Black person over the past half century, concepts like “microaggression” and “implicit bias” have been critical in cultivating the perception, amplified by the media, that America still practices a form of insidious racial apartheid. This occurs by a process of concept creep—a stretching of the terminological and normative boundaries of what constitutes racism and racist behavior. In other words: The racialization of things that weren’t previously viewed or understood through the lens of race. The upshot is that the more aspects of social life the media racializes, the more “racism” there is for the media to report on. ...

One possible way of explaining these statistics, is that America experienced an explosion of racism over the past decade and white liberals are uniquely reflective of that change. But another possibility, perhaps more likely, is that ascendant progressive notions about race reflected in a steady drumbeat of reporting and editorializing on the subject from leading national media outlets, encouraged white liberals to label a larger number of behaviors and people as racist. In other words, while the world may have stayed more or less the same, elite liberal media and its readership—especially its white liberal readership—underwent a profound change.

There is a body of social science research arguing that shifts in race-related media coverage have a causal effect on racial attitudes. For instance, political scientist Paul Kellstedt has provided evidence showing that shifts in racial attitudes follow shifts in race-related news content. ...

The agenda-setting and issue-framing powers that social media platforms like Twitter have provided to progressive activists appears to be a central driver of both the shifts in white liberals’ racial attitudes and the transformations within traditional media. ...

Kendi is saying that any evidence of uneven outcomes between groups—for example, Black people being underrepresented in a particular profession relative to other groups and their share of the overall population—is necessarily evidence of racism that should be remedied by discriminating against the non-Black groups. Yet this reasoning is intuitively appealing only when (in addition to ignoring the various nonwhite groups that outperform whites) it utilizes the very same racial categories that those like Kendi rightfully criticize for being arbitrarily or socially constructed...

...there is a great deal of between-group variance in higher-degree attainment among American-born whites of single European ancestry. According to data from the 2017 American Community Survey, roughly 50% of those reporting single Russian ancestry have bachelor’s degrees or more, while this is true of only 27% of those of French and 18% of those of Portuguese ancestry, respectively. To put this into perspective, these gaps are double and nearly triple the size, respectively, of the degree-attainment gap between aggregate Blacks (16.2%) and whites (27.2%). Would Kendi insist that this, too, is dispositive proof of discrimination?



Research shows that how members of advantaged or “privileged” social groups react to group inequality is informed by his/her views of its legitimacy. Those who are inclined or habituated to see it as illegitimate (such as white liberals) are likely to experience feelings of shame, guilt, and/or in-group-directed anger. These aversive feelings, in turn, correspond to needs for moral acceptance and validation vis-à-vis members of disadvantaged out-groups. These needs then motivate the adoption of pro-out-group (or “woke”) attitudes and behaviors that both signal one’s moral solidarity with the unjustly disadvantaged out-group while also distinguishing oneself from the undeservingly privileged in-group. In the other direction, group members that don’t perceive that such inequalities are entirely or at all illegitimate are likely to resent being unjustly blamed for them and to consider the maligning of their moral status unfair. ...

What the evidence suggests, is that leading publications have not only vastly expanded the definition of racism and actively promoted a more racialized view of American society—in a period beginning under a Black president and during which many indicators showed slow and frustrating, but consistent, racial progress—but have done so, in part, by normalizing and popularizing the notion of “white people’s” collective guilt. ...

Until just a few years ago, such reductive and Manichaean racial narratives were largely confined to overtly white nationalist and Black nationalist groups and the pages of little-read academic critical theory and sociology journals. But as the graph below reveals, this once-rare framework has been incorporated into the lexicon of mainstream, particularly left-leaning, newspapers. ...

Prior to 2013, the terms “white” and “racial privilege(s)” appeared in an average of 0.000013% and 0.000015% of all words in the Times and Post, respectively. Between 2013 and 2019, these average frequencies grew by an astounding 1,200% in the Times, which was surpassed by nearly 1,500% increase at the Post. Meanwhile, the frequency at which “privilege” shared the same lexical space as terms like “white,” “color,” and “skin” reached a record high. ...

If white people have become increasingly associated with racism, unearned privilege, and white supremacy in the media, what of nonwhites? Well, first off, they are no longer “nonwhites”—they are “People of Color.” And because they are “People of Color,” they are necessarily “marginalized” and rendered “vulnerable” by the “whiteness” around them. Or at least this is how they are seemingly portrayed in today’s media environment. ...

Thus the goal is no longer 'racial equality' or equal treatment under the law. It is, rather, the attainment of a state of the world in which all groups have equal outcomes—even if some are deliberately disadvantaged in the process. ...

There are many possible objections to this line of argument: To start, there’s the fact that dividing a diverse, multiethnic society into oppressed and oppressor categories on the basis of skin color has, as a matter of historical precedent, more often led to sectarian bloodshed than enhanced justice and equity. What’s more, the narratives promoting this new system of racial division are both factually fraudulent—built on false or misleading premises and assumptions—and deeply hostile to any attempts at factual correction. If one points out, for instance, that accounts of white supremacy as an all-powerful force in American society tend to discount that some nonwhite groups like Nigerian Americans, Indian Americans, and East Asian Americans all have more income equity than the average white person, this itself is invalidated as a racist microaggression. The media has actively promoted a theory of racism that misrepresents facts about the world while stigmatizing any effort to criticize those facts as racist. ...

Steamrolling or suppressing inconvenient facts leaves us with a picture of reality that’s likely to be incomplete, erroneous, and consequently, harmful to progress. ...

Using data from The Washington Post Police Shootings database (2015-2020), I tallied and compared the number of search results for unarmed white versus Black police-shooting victims in a large data archive (ProQuest). In the end, and as depicted in the graph below, unarmed Black police-shooting victims generated nine times the number of news search results as white victims. What is more, roughly 32% of white victims generated zero search results as compared to just 12% of Black victims. ...

What the data presented here suggests is that editorial decisions made over the past decade at some of the most powerful media outlets in the world about what kind of language to use and what kind of stories merited coverage when it came to race—whatever the intention and level of forethought behind such decisions—has stoked a revival of racial consciousness among their readers. Intentionally or not, by introducing and then constantly repeating a set of key words and concepts, publications like The New York Times have helped normalize among their readership the belief that “color” is the defining attribute of other human beings. For those who adopt this singular focus on race, a racialized view of the world becomes baseline test of political loyalty. It requires adherents to overlook the immense diversity among so-called “People of Color” and “People Not-of-Color” (i.e., whoever is being lumped together as “white” according to the prevailing ideological fashion). In doing so, it has made stereotypes socially acceptable, if not laudable. ...

The same media institutions that have promoted revanchist identitarianism and the radical transformation of American society along racial lines, could instead have focused their attention and influence on improving the quality of life for all. Working to ensure that Americans of any background aren’t unjustly victimized by the police and have access to quality health care, schools, and affordable housing doesn’t require the promotion of a “race-consciousness” that divides society into “oppressed” and “privileged” color categories. To the contrary, it requires that we de-emphasize these categories and unite in pursuit of common interests. This may not suit the media’s prerogatives, and it may not appeal to activists whose desire for cultural “recognition” trumps their devotion to material progress, but it does offer the potential benefit of improving the lives of ordinary Americans.

Comments 1 - 34 of 34        Search these comments

2   Patrick   2021 Apr 8, 10:46pm  



It happens over and over and over that these things are fraud. Jesse Smollet, the Duke case, etc.
3   WookieMan   2021 Apr 8, 10:58pm  

Patrick says
It happens over and over and over that these things are fraud. Jesse Smollet, the Duke case, etc.

Beyond race as well. Covid is no different. Almost everything you see and hear about Covid is a lie. A narrative. Masking. Vaccines. In the digital age, media has figured out how to manipulate.

Most people in say the 80's or 90's and prior maybe caught their local newscast on TV. Women especially didn't care for the most part, didn't read a newspaper. Now with social media and instant access, there's a whole new market out there. It's sexist as can be, but ultimately I think women engaging in media now creates these race issues or covid hype. I've yet to meet another man that is afraid of covid. Or is concerned about race pertaining to your OP.

There are smart women out there that can sift through the BS. Most aren't though. And if you're talking millennial women then it's even worse. They're easily sold and also easily scared. A double whammy in the media world for ad sales and traffic generation.
4   Patrick   2021 Apr 8, 11:08pm  

WookieMan says
I think women engaging in media now creates these race issues or covid hype. I've yet to meet another man that is afraid of covid. Or is concerned about race pertaining to your OP.


I agree. Certain women are the cause of most of this racism hype, and virus hype.

Not all of them, but a lot of them.
5   WookieMan   2021 Apr 8, 11:24pm  

Patrick says
I agree. Women are the cause of most of this racism hype, and virus hype.

My wife pulled a fast one on me and registered to get the J&J poke next week. I'm honestly upset. I told her to let me double check the life insurance policy was paid up to date.... She didn't find that funny.

I asked her if she thought it was weird that it wasn't supposed to be available to someone our age until May or June. She agreed. So I ask why she's getting it, clearly no one wants it. Pretty sure she was vaccine shamed. It's getting bad in that regard.

This isn't honest, but I did get tested in January when I was sick. Negative. I'm just going to lie and say it was positive so the vaccine isn't necessary. I think by June or July this is out of the news. I'm concerned with what replaces it. Trump made media a lot of money. Covid is getting dragged out. What is the next big story? I think war. So glad I'm aged out of that and the kids are too young.
6   Onvacation   2021 Apr 9, 9:59am  

Patrick says

It happens over and over and over that these things are fraud. Jesse Smollet, the Duke case, etc

The perps wrote "White lives matter"! What a heinous crime!

Is the FBI investigating?
7   GNL   2021 Apr 9, 10:26am  

Patrick says
WookieMan says
I think women engaging in media now creates these race issues or covid hype. I've yet to meet another man that is afraid of covid. Or is concerned about race pertaining to your OP.


I agree. Women are the cause of most of this racism hype, and virus hype.

I stand with Patrick and Wookie.
8   socal2   2021 Apr 9, 10:50am  

WineHorror1 says
Patrick says
WookieMan says
I think women engaging in media now creates these race issues or covid hype. I've yet to meet another man that is afraid of covid. Or is concerned about race pertaining to your OP.


I agree. Women are the cause of most of this racism hype, and virus hype.

I stand with Patrick and Wookie.


It all went downhill once we let them vote and drive.
9   Shaman   2021 Apr 9, 11:06am  

Women are the easiest to confuse and make them follow the herd over a cliff. Millennia of genetic programming for women to value social status above all makes them extremely unlikely to buck any sort of popular trend. Whether it be bell bottoms or turning their kids transgender, women are down with any sort of outrage as long as they believe “everyone else is doing it.”

That is why women shouldn’t lead.
10   Onvacation   2021 Apr 9, 12:02pm  

socal2 says


It all went downhill once we let them vote and drive.

I laughed out loud because I assumed you were being facetious.

The old saying., "Behind every great man there is a woman", is at least partially true. I honor and respect my wife even though she has coo coo political beliefs. (Don' tell her I said that). I know I would be a lesser man with out her.

Having said all that I do believe that women have a different way of thinking that I will never fathom.
11   Patrick   2021 Apr 9, 12:04pm  

I think Heartiste deserves a Nobel Prize for coherently explaining women:

https://heartiste.org/

Ton of material there, takes a long time to read, but so worth it.
12   Karloff   2021 Apr 9, 3:34pm  

Patrick says
I think Heartiste deserves a Nobel Prize for coherently explaining women:

https://heartiste.org/

Ton of material there, takes a long time to read, but so worth it.

Site seems to be empty. View it with the waybackmachine. Perhaps archive it yourself before the 'net nannies get their panties in a bunch over its mere existence.

https://web.archive.org/web/20210220233523/https://heartiste.org/
13   Patrick   2021 Apr 9, 5:51pm  

Oh man, did they finally succeed in censoring it? Worked when I posted the link.

I should try to archive it myself.
15   WookieMan   2021 Apr 12, 9:44pm  

zzyzzx says


Hopefully there are intelligent people on the jury. I fear they're just going to be peer pressured into convicting on multiple charges.

I get this was an arrest over a fake $20 bill. That's a trivial amount. If the bill was fake, it's against the law though. Floyd likely decided he knew he was getting busted and popped all his drugs at one time as has been mentioned. How is that the cops fault?

I've had bad run in's with cops. I support them, but generally am not a huge fan. There are bad ones out there for sure. That said, as I've gotten older, just don't do stupid shit. I still have my fair share of fun at my age. But why in the fuck is a grown ass man that can work a job passing $20 counterfeit bills? All logic is lost at that point. Certain segments of society have created their own problem and want to blame cops for their shortcomings.
18   gabbar   2021 Apr 13, 8:19am  

HunterTits says
The fundamental issue with the media is that it is now just a vehicle for pushing opinion that is hyped as 'news', instead of 'news' with SEPARATE & CLEARLY IDENTIFABLE opinion pieces.

And this is because Millennials never learnt the fucking difference and demand that their news has slant to it. Thus is the story of how Vice was founded, as I was told by some media expert that I had to sit and listen to when I worked for a large 'news' company.

It's so bad that the only real news is the 'reality crap' such as most white trash news reports in Florida (people going through the drive thu with a fucking alligator strapped to the hood of their cars, etc.).


Edward Bernays in his book Propaganda says that competition is the way we have chosen to live rather than through wisdom (I don't remember the exact words) and these are drawbacks to to choosing this path.
20   AmericanKulak   2021 May 4, 8:52pm  

WookieMan says
Most people in say the 80's or 90's and prior maybe caught their local newscast on TV. Women especially didn't care for the most part, didn't read a newspaper. Now with social media and instant access, there's a whole new market out there. It's sexist as can be, but ultimately I think women engaging in media now creates these race issues or covid hype. I've yet to meet another man that is afraid of covid. Or is concerned about race pertaining to your OP.


The #1 thing that has disappeared from all news, esp. local news, is... all the murders on MLK Jr Blvd in the nearest city.

"Jamal Jackson, 21, is suspected in the drive by deaths of Tayshawn and Tyrone King, two cousins who lived in the 1000 block of Marcus Garvey Street near the B WIng of the Peace and Progress Housing Complex..."
21   Patrick   2021 Jun 5, 11:02pm  



I think it's important to bring in China's interest in dividing us, making America weaker for their benefit.
23   Tenpoundbass   2021 Jun 7, 10:57am  

Obama was never going to win a second term without vilifying American values. He had to make all of the White people who voted against McShitstain and Palin, in 2008, feel guilty if they didn't vote for him again in 2012. It became a staple once that Obama propaganda money got into our Television networks.
24   Hircus   2021 Jun 7, 1:02pm  

Booger says


I kinda wonder if the "whyte liberals should adopt a black child to be virtuous" is actually a clever long play by someone.

The difference in outcome, or lack of difference in certain cases/ways, by black children in white homes has been studied before, but this plan would add lots of new cases to study. I can think of lots of different ways to spin the results, both good and bad.
26   Patrick   2021 Jun 9, 9:46am  

https://babylonbee.com/news/god-condemned-for-forgiving-racism




God Condemned For Forgiving Racism


U.S.—God, the creator and ruler of all existence, has once again come under fire, this time for His practice of forgiving all sins. Apparently, God makes no exceptions on the sins he forgives, so that means he also forgives racism, something many modern people find unforgivable.

“It really helps perpetuate white supremacy that God will forgive racism instead of condemning people for all eternity for it,” said progressive Christian Russell Tyler. “I can see forgiving lying, murder, sexual morality (which should never have been a sin in the first place), but forgiving racism is just beyond the pale.”

While many people are hunting down and condemning people with even the most tangential relationship with racism, like Ellie Kemper, activists feel God is undermining them by forgiving full-on KKK members and Nazis.

“While we were told that ‘blasphemy of the Holy Spirit' is unforgivable, no one even knows what that is,” says CRT advocate Timothy Cannon. “The unforgivable sin should be racism-- since it’s the worst sin ever-- as modern society has determined. God needs to make it clear there is no coming back from that.”

God so far has remained silent on calls for Him to repent for forgiving racism, though activists make it clear that if he did apologize, they would not forgive Him.
27   AmericanKulak   2021 Jul 4, 2:05pm  

Let's not look at this from the lens of politeness and conflict reduction, which are elements of "Whiteness", and instead respect cultures that believe in more direct conflict resolution.
28   FortwayeAsFuckJoeBiden   2021 Jul 4, 2:16pm  

It’s still going, Biden puppet is constantly told to say they are fighting white supremacy.
30   richwicks   2021 Jul 25, 12:45am  

Patrick says
"Science" has been thoroughly corrupted too:

https://notthebee.com/article/whiteness-is-a-parasitic-condition-that-has-no-permanent-cure-according-to-the-journal-of-the-american-psychoanalytic-association


I need to promote the hypothesis of evolutionary psychology more. It IS a science, it's got a testable, refutable model, and it's got a ton of postulates and hypotheses.

Psychoanalysis was just the first stab at psychology, and it was done in the Victorian era, and although it got a lot of of ideas right, it's not a science. It was a proto-science, similar to alchemy.
31   richwicks   2021 Jul 25, 12:47am  

Tenpoundbass says
Obama was never going to win a second term without vilifying American values. He had to make all of the White people who voted against McShitstain and Palin, in 2008, feel guilty if they didn't vote for him again in 2012. It became a staple once that Obama propaganda money got into our Television networks.


The difference between McCain, Obama, and Romney is almost nil. They were all puppets.
33   HeadSet   2021 Jul 30, 6:07am  

That is one uber-doctored pic of Nancy Pelosi above. In real life she is quite the cadaver faced.
34   Patrick   2021 Aug 29, 10:34pm  




What’s more hateful than a racist? Try an anti-racist.

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